Chip Kelly refused on Thursday afternoon to declare Michael Vick out for Sunday's game against the Dallas Cowboys with a hamstring injury. Two hours later, after Vick was a limited participant in practice, Vick declared himself out in the strangest of press conferences alongside Nick Foles, who will make his second consecutive start.

"No. I'm not playing this week," Vick said at the beginning of the yuckfest joint press conference. "I just can't rush it."

Vick will, best-case scenario, be the emergency quarterback. He did, however, say his hamstring has shown some improvement this week.

"[I was able to] run a little faster. I was able to do that," said Vick, who spontaneously invited Foles to join him at the podium and constantly cracked jokes during the 15-minute exchange with the media. "At the same time, I don't want to push it too much. I want things to happen naturally."

The Eagles' starting quarterback hurt his hamstring two weeks ago against the Giants. He's still not 100 percent, even though he's participated in practice most of the last two week. Still, Kelly was not ready to rule him out prior to Thursday's practice.

"Nope," Kelly said. "I talked to him this morning and he said he was going to run around a little bit more today. We'll see how he is."

Something changed in the two hours between practice. Or someone decided honesty is the best policy.

The thing is the Eagles (and maybe even Vick himself) believe that 100% of Nick Foles is better than 80% of Michael Vick. So that is the direction they're headed going into their biggest game of the season.

"I'm working to try and get myself back to 100 percent," Vick said. "Until then, Nick is the quarterback of this football team."

Right now Foles gives them the best chance to win. Vick without full explosion isn't the same quarterback that barely edged Foles out for the starting job this summer.

Vick appeared resigned to this fact. He even seemed deferential to the idea that Foles might take his starting job. Vick, after all, originally won the Eagles' job when Kevin Kolb was injured. He noted they remain friends to this day.

"Regardless of what happens, it's all about rooting for one another," Vick said. "This is a fun game. You can't have animosity towards a teammates because of the way he plays or what people want or feel. ... Whatever comes out of this, it's going to be all good for the both of us."

Vick and Foles were chummy at the shared podium. They joked and smiled despite the endless run of questions about their futures. Vick went out of his way to laud Foles' athleticism. Foles followed with a joke about how he's stolen some of Vick's moves. It all equated to a strange scene that almost appeared like a passing of the starting QB torch.

And why not? The door appears fully open for Foles to win the starting job if he continues to shine. He's accounted for six touchdowns and no turnovers in six-plus quarters since Vick's injury.

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Kelly's offense has shown no signs of slowing down with Foles in the game. The Eagles compiled over 400 total yards for the sixth straight week.

Foles still isn't looking at this as an audition for the rest of the season and the future.

"No. I'm not trying to do any of that. I'm trying to play," he said. "I want to win the game as a team. When you play this game, you have to play for the right reasons. I play to help my teammates, to be a team player."